I could spend days on end talking about oily skin and its needs..
Questions and doubts are thriving and misinformation is thriving even more! That being said, I decided to divide this chapter in two parts. The first part will focus on the normal oily skin, while the second one will describe acne and its different types.
Let’s see all that in detail:
What is the clinical image of an oily skin? How do I recognize it?
In general, oily skin has dilated pores, especially in the T area (forehead, nose, and chin), while it’s considered one of the strongest skin types and has also great cold resistance. The way it grows is typical, because, gravity (from the large sebum quantity produced over the years) scars your skin with deep wrinkles. These wrinkles can be found left and right of the mouth (the so-called nasal-buccal wrinkles, which start from the base of the nose and can reach all the way to the corners of the mouth), or between the eyebrows, the so-called eleven.
What should we do according the season?
Summer and autumn are considered ideal for oily skin, because, during those periods, skin can endure the abrupt changes in temperature, because of the existing lipids, this way, preventing, even more the skin from breaking out! Moreover, the pores are not that visible or dilated, due to low temperatures. This comes as a relief for the person with this skin type, because the disturbing shine is reduced!
The daily routine includes:
Evening:
- Face cleansing that respects your skin’s pH (it can contain lactic or mandelic acid).
- Application of serum in combination with glycolic acid.
- And finally, a moisturizing cream which regulates sebum overproduction and excretion.
Morning:
- We throw pure water with no cleansing factor (always in accordance with your skin expert).
- Use of broad spectrum non-comedonal sunscreen for oily skins, i.e. a sunscreen that does not favor blackhead creation.
In Spring, but mainly in Summer, we can observe the following negative traits on the oily skin.
Sebaceous glands grow bigger than normal with the presence of the sun and heat and as a result, they produce an exceeding amount of sebum…
Sunlight causes a mild “thickening” of the skin’s surface layer, leading those who suffer from acne to mistakenly believe that their situation has been improved. Surely, you have thought of it yourselves, right? I don’t blame you for that! It, indeed, gives the impression of a better skin. When, autumn, arrives, though, and the surface layer reverts back to its original state, then, as if by magic (evil magic!), blackheads reappear because they always have been there in the first place!
Bearing all those in mind, it’s clear that oily skin routine from spring onwards is as follows:
Evening:
- We cleanse our face, just once, in the evening.
- We only apply the moisturizing-sebum regulatory cream, with no serum application.
Morning:
- We cool our face with water
- We apply our sunscreen
Extra info: We should bear in mind that an oily skin needs to be rejuvenated more frequently than a dry or dehydrated one, because, due to sebum over-excretion, the sunscreen filters don’t remain intact and stable on the skin for long!
We will talk about the notorious acne in our next article!!!
Stay tuned!